A Christmas Knight

Well, not rude, exactly—he had at least acknowledged her and shaken her hand.

But the zing of attraction when her skin had touched his had thrown him, made him tongue-tied. Which was crazy, because he was never that boorish. Essie had even given him an opening, saying that Louisa was looking for riding lessons for her child. He could’ve given her Ric and Bea’s number, because he knew they had a couple of spaces on their list. They’d talked about it last night, how people were cutting back on extras in the recession and riding lessons were expensive, and Bea had suggested that they should hold an open day to get people interested in the stables.

But then Louisa had said something that slammed right through him. He wants to be a knight when he grows up. Yeah. Been there, done that, and the absolute worst had happened.

Though that wasn’t her fault and he shouldn’t have taken it out on her.

He’d apologise later, and hopefully she wouldn’t hold it against him if she was needed to work with his team in Resus.

Riding lessons. For her son.

Though she wasn’t wearing a wedding ring. And there wasn’t a tell-tale band of pale skin on her finger to say she’d removed it for work. He’d looked. And he was cross with himself for looking.

Dominic took another gulp of coffee, needing the bitter liquid to jolt some sense back into him. Louisa Austin was gorgeous, with beautiful grey eyes and long dark hair; she’d tied it back hygienically for work, but he could imagine what it looked like loose. Like waves of shiny silk. Her mouth was a perfect rosebud, and it sent a shiver of pure desire running through him, along with an insane urge to find out how it would feel against his own mouth. It had been a long, long time since he’d felt an attraction that strong and that immediate—and that was what had thrown him most.

He knew that it would be pretty stupid to act on that attraction. He wasn’t in the market for a relationship; and, even if he was, Louisa had a son. Which meant that either she was already spoken for, despite the lack of a wedding ring, or she was a single parent who’d be wary of taking any risks in a relationship, for her child’s sake, and would want someone responsible in her life.

Responsible.

Right.

Which was about as far from him as you could get: hadn’t he ruined his brother’s life, two years ago?

He needed to get out of here. Now.

‘No rest for the wicked,’ he said, striding over to the sink and rinsing out his mug. ‘If we’re to have any chance of meeting our targets today, I’d better get back out there and hope Resus stays quiet for the rest of the afternoon. Welcome to the team, Nurse Practitioner Austin.’ And he left the rest room before he could do anything ridiculous. Like asking her to have lunch with him tomorrow so they could get to know each other a little better.

The rest of Louisa’s shift turned out to be as busy as the morning, but she managed to get to the after-school club on time to meet Tyler.

‘Hi, Mum.’ He gave her the shy smile that always made her melt.

‘How was your day, honey?’ She gave him a hug.

‘OK.’

‘Best bit?’

‘Lunch. We had pasta. It wasn’t as good as yours, though.’

She really hoped that he hadn’t actually said that to the dinner ladies. She could still remember the time they’d had Sunday lunch at her best friend’s house and then, when asked if he’d enjoyed it, he’d very politely thanked Mel and gone on to tell her that her gravy was slimy and her potatoes weren’t nice and crispy on the outside and fluffy in the middle like his mother’s were. Luckily Mel hadn’t taken it to heart, but Louisa had had to explain to Tyler that sometimes it was OK to tell a little fib so you didn’t hurt people’s feelings. And even after she’d finished explaining, he still didn’t get it. ‘Let’s go home and make dinner. Do you have any spellings or times tables I need to test you on?’

‘No. Do you want to see the horse I drew at lunch-time?’ He had his sketchbook out of his schoolbag as soon as he’d put his seat belt on.

She stared at the drawing in awe. ‘It’s beautiful, darling.’ The horse was drawn in painstaking detail, and was incredibly realistic. Tyler really did have a talent for art—something she could only assume came from Jack’s side, because nobody in her side of the family was arty. But there was nobody to ask, because Jack’s family had severed all connection with them as soon as Jack had left—and for the same reason.

Though it didn’t bother her any more. She knew that she and Ty were better off without them. Her parents accepted Tyler as he was and gave him enough love for two sets of grandparents. They didn’t need the Listons.

Tyler disappeared to his room as soon as they got home, and Louisa knew exactly what he was doing. Putting his drawing in a plastic wallet, labelling it and adding it to his database. One good thing about having a son who was obsessed with order was that she never had to tell him to tidy his bedroom. It was always immaculate. Smiling, she busied herself preparing dinner, and when everything was ready she called him down, careful not to let the new potatoes, chicken or vegetables touch each other on Tyler’s plate.

He chattered happily about horses all the way through dinner; and then it was the usual routine of washing up while he had a bath, nagging him to clean his teeth, and giving him a kiss goodnight.

Carefully, he turned the kitchen timer next to his bed to twenty minutes. ‘I’ll put my light out as soon as the alarm goes off, Mum,’ he promised.

And she knew he would, even if he was in mid-sentence. Tyler was one for sticking to the rules. ‘See you in the morning, darling. Sleep well,’ she said, giving him another kiss.

Then she curled up on the sofa with her laptop and looked up all the local riding stables, listing them with their phone numbers in her diary. She’d start calling them tomorrow. It was a pity that Dominic Hurst had turned out to be so formal and unapproachable—she would’ve appreciated some tips on choosing the right riding school. But she was used to doing things on her own, so she wasn’t going to let it throw her.

And as for stray thoughts of a tall, dark, gorgeous and reserved medic with a mouth that promised sin…she’d banish them all from her head, because there just wasn’t room in her life for someone like that.

Handsome is as handsome does.

Chapter Two

TUESDAY went without incident in Minors, but on Wednesday Louisa was called in to help in Resus.

‘Essie tells me you’re very experienced, so I’d like you to work with me, please, Nurse Practitioner Austin,’ Dominic said.

She noticed again that he’d addressed her by her title rather than by her name. Was he just being like that with her because she was new, or was he like that with everyone? Then she remembered that Essie had called him by his first name. Better get things straight now, then. ‘OK, but can we spend thirty seconds now to save us a lot of time when our patients arrive?’ she asked.

He frowned. ‘How do you mean?’

‘It goes without saying that I respect your seniority, but I’m used to working on first-name terms. It’s quicker, easier, and less of a mouthful. Would you mind?’

He blinked. ‘OK, Nu—Louisa.’

‘Thank you, Dominic.’ She used his name deliberately. ‘So what’s happened?’

‘Car crash. Three casualties,’ Dominic explained. ‘Both drivers are coming in with suspected whiplash, and the passenger has suspected multiple fractures. Ronnie and Sasha are going to treat the drivers, and I need you with me as lead nurse to treat the passenger—Sally will assist us.’

She nodded. ‘How long have we got to prepare?’

‘Five minutes. I’m going down to the ambulance bay now.’

She busied herself getting the trolley ready; when Dominic came back with the paramedic and their patient, the team swung into action.

‘Rhiannon, this is my team, Louisa and Sally,’ Dominic said calmly. ‘They’re going to help me look after you.’

‘Hurts,’ Rhiannon mumbled. ‘Where’s Gary?’

‘Your husband’s right here,’ he reassured her. ‘Ronnie’s looking after him, and as soon as she’s checked him over and made him comfortable, he’ll be able to come and see you. And we’re going to give something to help with the pain,’ he said. ‘I’m going to put an oxygen mask on you to help you breathe better, and then we’re going to have a proper look at you, OK?’

On Dominic’s direction, Sally gently cut through Rhiannon’s clothes so he could do a full body assessment, top to toe. Meanwhile, Louisa hooked Rhiannon up to a cardiac monitor, put in a second line and started taking obs.

‘Heart rate 135, respirations twenty-six, blood pressure 82/54,’ she said. Tachycardia and low blood pressure pointed to major loss of blood—probably caused by internal injuries, Louisa thought.

‘We need to get some fluids in. Start with a litre of Hartmann’s, and get six units cross-matched for me,’ Dominic said—and looked approving when he saw that she already had the saline solution in her hand.

Dominic had given Rhiannon painkillers to make her more comfortable; but when her blood pressure didn’t respond to the fluids and her sats started dropping, he glanced at Louisa. ‘Can you do ABGs for me, please, Louisa? And, Sally, I need X-rays.’ He listened to Rhiannon’s chest.